Society for Ethical Reform through Aid, Protection, and Humanitarianism
The Society for Ethical Reform through Aid, Protection, and Humanitarianism (SERAPH) is a progressive charitable foundation that formed on Cabina in the wake of the Sector Trade Organization's defeat and the dissolution of the Church of Humanity, Repentant. It is composed of numerous charitable and corporate entities, with additional stakeholding backing of the Cabinan government. In pursuit of its mission to "restore the broken economy, the broken society, and the broken soul of our Empire," SERAPH places an emphasis on empowering the disenfranchised and protecting the downtrodden. It pursues this goal through primarily charitable means and initiatives, but has governmental backing and a strong corporate element (focused on fair trade and labor and reinvestment of proceeds in charitable causes) . Overly and officially, it is secular and incrementalist in its work toward change of existing systems, and most of its efforts are directed toward the support of aliens and serfs. It is an open secret, however, that the organization is heavily staffed by Repentant individuals and receives much of its sponsorship and donations from members of mainline Repentant sects. Unprovably and covertly, it is suspected that the organization's members also often aid synthetics, and that the organization has ties to the more radical Repentant Underground. History The collapse of the Church of Humanity, Repentant left a gaping power vacuum on Cabina. Multiple entities competed for social and political prominence during this time, seeking to acquire the skills of individuals formerly employed by the CHR bureaucracy, the support of the noble families of Cabina, the support of now-independent Repentant sects, and control of the assets and land formerly owned or overseen by the CHR. Among the most prominent entities in this struggle were the Office of the Governor of Cabina, Cabina Cups Tea Company, Cabina Coffee Company, the Gran Panacea Charitable Foundation, the Maajid Memorial Foundation for the Education of Humanity, and AIDSERFS. Out of the eventual compromises and agreements signed among these competing entities arose SERAPH. The founding members of SERAPH then worked to gather additional charities and corporations under their banner, and to acquire sponsorship and funding from additional sources. The majority of their success in this regard came from their outreach to Repentant sects. Constitutive Entities The 3 pairs of wings on the logo thematically represent the Charitable, Corporate, and Government organizations that aligned under the banner of SERAPH. Each organization uses the SERAPH umbrella as well as their own identity as is most convenient for their goals. Charitable Entities These are SERAPH's charitable initiatives and foundations, many originally founded with the involvement and sponsorship of particular Repentant sects. Prominent amongst the founding charitable members and stakeholders of SERAPH are the following: * Gran Panacea Charitable Foundation (GPCF): medical care and training to those unable to afford or otherwise ineligible for Serpens care. * Maajid Memorial Foundation for the Education of Humanity (MMFES): educational training and opportunities to those otherwise unable to afford or qualify for it; research into Xenology and similar topics often neglected in mainstream imperial academia; outreach to and education on aliens and peaceful coexistence. * Association for the Improvement and Development of Serfdom towards the Economic Revival of the Full Sector (AIDSERFS): improving the economy, as well as the lives and wellbeing of serfs and freemen; special interest in planetary restoration projects, strong legal department. Additional charitable entities which soon joined included the Phoenix Foundation and the Crucible of Hope, Resplendent. Corporate Entities SERAPH's corporate entities include some which were originally founded and run by the CHR, and others which arose to take control of CHR assets following its dissolution. Prominent amongst the founding corporate members and stakeholders of SERAPH are the following: * Cabina Cups Tea Company: a core mission of tea, but with many branches dealing with shipping, production, and any corporate activity the company can gain control of. * Cabina Coffee Company: a purely coffee-focused company, but a rival of Cabina Cups and its monopolistic ambitions. As distinct from other corporates in the sector, the SERAPH corporations emphasize fair trade and labor, with profits reinvested in charitable activities, research and development, infrastructure, and planetary restoration. They are the ‘feel good’ brands that those in the sector consume ‘ethically.’ Government Entities These currently consist of elements of the government of Cabina. They are highly autonomous stakeholders that serve to support SERAPH and its entities in issues of imperial government and give it legitimacy. They include prominent noble families that own land and have workers volunteering both their time and staff to support SERAPH. Other involved individuals and entities include the Governor of Cabina, their staff, and the Cabinan colonial planetary restoration charter. Board & Secretariat The SERAPH's Foundation Board is made up of representatives of all the various entities who as founders and/or stakeholders own SERAPH the foundation. In order to coordinate between the different entities, primarily either to negotiate with other factions or to arbitrate internal disputes, there is a small institution known as the SERAPH Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General. The 'Secretary-Genera'l is appointed by the SERAPH board, and works to coordinate the efforts of the various charities, corporates, and government initiatives whose representatives make up the board, and tries to prevent internal competition from getting out of hand (often a difficult task, especially in case of the more competitive corporate entities). The SERAPH Secretariat is also in charge of running these three small divisions of SERAPH: * Administrative Office - Legal and administrative efforts to maintain the SERAPH brand and its cooperative spirit. * Press Office - Propaganda, political movements, and joint SERAPH advocacy efforts to the noble houses, corporations, and the empire. * Management Office - Responsible for managing joint subsidiaries, which are miscellaneous efforts that are not tied to a specific stakeholding charitable, corporate, or governmental entity but are instead run by SERAPH as a whole. Repentant Influence With the collapse of the Church of Humanity, Repentant, and without a church superstructure, the Repentant Faith returned to being a more disorganized and decentralized movement of sects and individuals, in vague philosophical alignment around the ideals of Repentance expressed in the Three Tenets. These sects, however, often still elected to connect and coordinate with one another on various charitable initiatives that aligned with their values. SERAPH in particular garnered the support of most mainstream Repentant sects, due to the involvement of several Repentant sects in its founding charities, and SERAPH's mission being in alignment with certain Repentant values. Both as individuals and as communities, Repentant sects are often sponsors and donors of SERAPH and its initiatives, providing much of its funding and most of its social clout and public support. In addition, much of SERAPH’s staff considers themselves Repentant and motivated by Repentant ethics. For those interacting with SERAPH, this knowledge exits largely in the range of a politely ignorable "open secret." Publicly SERAPH’s goals are secular and conformist; the organization has the ability to disavow and distance itself from the Repentant faith as much as needed, and whenever needed, to operate under High Church hegemony. Officially anyone, even High Church faithful, can join the charity. More covertly, the Repentant individuals running SERAPH and its constituent entities work to ensure these operations stay aligned with Repentant ethics and goals. This is most commonly done by only promoting people to positions of influence in the organization if they regularly attend the ‘special’ after-work meetings. I.e. either overt or covert Repentant meetings. SERAPH also has a large underground Repentant following, and it is often an access-point to synth-smuggling networks and used as a cover by or gateway to more radical Repentant movements. Many leaders of sects may use the excuse of charity collaboration to coordinate other less licit activities and projects of their members and sects. These operations may range more peaceful pro-alien/serf/synth non-conformism, to continued activities by violent religious revolutionaries. SERAPH may still have ways of mobilizing the Repentant faithful, but in general, the role of the Repentant is that they support and donate to SERAPH, rather than having any kind of subordination to SERAPH. Timeline of Founding * BREAKING NEWS: SCHISM! (Twitter link) ** Deepening conflict in the CHR over how to respond to STO defeat, High Church hegemony, and a changing sector leads a schism of its governing body, the Council of Exarchs. * BREAKING NEWS: END OF THE DSC? (Twitter link) ** Violence breaks out among members of the Department of Special Circumstances. Liberators attempt to seize weapons and armaments. The Governor of Cabina steps in. * BREAKING NEWS: Cabina Cups Goes Rogue??! (Twitter link) ** Cabina Cups Tea Company declares its independence from the CHR in response to the unrest. It takes control of various assets and starts hiring individuals from the CHR bureaucracy who had formerly overseen it. * BREAKING NEWS: The Future Coffee Quantess of Cabina? (Twitter link) ** The Ankhayat family moves in, making deals with the Cabinan government and using its connections in the CHR bureaucracy take control land formerly overseen by the CHR. * BREAKING NEWS: Repentant Sects Break with the Church (Twitter link) ** Repentant sects across the sector disassociate themselves from the organization of the CHR. "Without its people, what is a Church?" * Statement from the Governor's Office (Twitter link) ** Now no more than a shell of its former self, with its leadership fractured and having lost the sects that federated it, the CHR formally dissolves as an entity. * First Missive of the Repentant Underground (Twitter link to video) ** "The Church is Dead, the Faith Lives On." Repentant faithful remind the sector that "the CHR" was at heart a decentralized federation of sects and individuals, and that these sects and their Repentant faithful are all clearly still around. * BREAKING NEWS: New Director of Industrial Complex on Cabina is an Alien (Twitter link) ** In the growing chaos on Cabina, a Cah-Binn alien somehow inherits control of a Gadalfo industrial complex. * BREAKING NEWS: Liberators at the Plaza (Twitter link) ** The Liberator faction keeps trying to convince Cabina and Repentant sects to forget this naive "peace" attempt and continue standing their ground against the High Church and Empire. * BREAKING NEWS: Caffine Wars Hit Their Boiling Point?! (Twitter link) ** Cabina Cups Tea Company and Ankhayat Coffee unify many settlements and homesteads on the Cabina Frontier into power blocs that will support their respective interests. * BREAKING NEWS: Gran Panacea Medical Center Goes Independent as Charitable Foundation! (Twitter link) ** "While the church may have died, its charitable activities cannot, must not, be allowed to die with it." The Gran Panacea Charitable Foundation is founded and begins acquiring assets and sponsors. * BREAKING NEWS: Hall of Concord in Flames! (Twitter link) ** The protesting Liberators do what they think needs to be done to secure the "peace" that Cabina and the rest of the Repentant faithful seem intent on pursuing. * BREAKING NEWS: Famous Cabina Library Launches Educational Foundation (Twitter link) ** Yet another charitable organization coalesces out of the chaos and power vacuum. The Maajid Memorial Foundation for the Education of Humanity likes education and aliens. * BREAKING NEWS: Cabina Governor Resigns (Twitter link) ** Loss of confidence in the current governor leads him to resign and call for a new election. * BREAKING NEWS: Psi-ball Team Seeks New Sponsor (Twitter link) ** Who will sponsor Cabina Fever now that the CHR is gone??!! * BREAKING NEWS: Welcome Center Wars! (Twitter link) ** Charitable and corporate entities fight for control over the CHR Welcome and Outreach Centers sectorwide. * SPECIAL REPORT: Who are the Ms. Cabina Cups? The Elite Pageant Winners now Running the Show! (Twitter link) ** Cabina Cups finishes its takeover of the personnel and assets of the CHR Department of Charity, and keeps on going. * BREAKING NEWS: First Candidates For Cabina Governor Present Themselves! (Twitter link) ** Coffee vs. Aliens vs. Religion * BREAKING NEWS: New Serf Advocacy Association on Cabina (Twitter link) ** Yet another charitable organization coalesces. Guess what AIDSERFS likes. * BREAKING NEWS: Trilliant Ring Announces Joint Venture with Cabina Cups! (Twitter link) ** Cabina Cups Tea Company makes a move to expand its shipping and influence. * SPECIAL REPORT: The Real Governor Candidates of Cabina! (Twitter link) ** The Sky is a Lie vs. Mud Grinders * BREAKING NEWS: Cah-Binn Cleaning Cabina Climate? (Twitter link) ** The Cah-Binn do some planetary restoration work. * SPECIAL REPORT: Repentant Sects - Where Are They Now? (Twitter link) ** Repentant sects talk about what they've been doing since disassociating from the CHR and going independent. * BREAKING NEWS: Final Candidates for Cabina Governor Present Themselves! (Twitter link) ** Technocracy vs. Banning Coffee * BREAKING NEWS: Secret Meetings on Cabina! (Twitter link) ** The emergent charities start talking to one another and coordinating. Associates of former Repentant radicals might be talking to one another, too. * BREAKING NEWS: Caffeine Wars About to Burst? Conflict Boils Over into Street Brawls! (Twitter link) ** Cabina Cups Tea blockades coffee shipments! Ankhayat Coffee seizes marketing drones! Riots in the streets! * BREAKING NEWS: Piping Hot Love?? (Twitter link) ** It turns out the lead negotiators for Cabina Cups and Ankhayat Coffee have been making love, not war. Their repsective companies are less than pleased. * ELECTION REPORT: Results of the Election for Cabina Governor! (Twitter link) ** The Grand Chemex is elected, and sets about restoring some order to things (especially things related to caffeine and aliens). * BREAKING NEWS: Caffeine Conflict Concluded! (Twitter link) ** Cabinan charities, the Cabinan governor, and the caffeinated lovebirds force Cabina Cups Tea and Cabina Coffee to sit down and reach a resolution. Locked in a room together, the founding entities of SERAPH eventually devise and sign the agreements and compromises that create SERAPH. * BREAKING NEWS: Grand Gathering on Cabina? (Twitter link) ** The founding members of SERAPH work to gather additional charities and corporations under their banner, and to acquire sponsorship/blessing from Repentant sects. * SERAPH Founding Press Release (Twitter link) ** Consortium of Charities, Cabina Cups Tea Company, Cabina Coffee Company, with Support of Cabinan Government, Announce they are Uniting to Form a New Charitable Society. Category:SERAPH Category:Factions